Plastic clip for closing flexible plastic bag

ABSTRACT

A clip about 1 inch square of flat springy plastic, such as 0.032 inch guage polystyrene, having an internal bag neck confining aperture, access to which is provided by a narrow opening in an edge of the clip dividing the clip on opposite sides of said opening into a pair of flexible jaws. The opening edges flare outwardly to guide the bunched bag neck into the inner narrow part of the opening. A pointed tongue formed integral with the clip extends into said aperture to engage the bag neck and resist slippage of said bag neck through said aperture. A multiple of said tongues may be provided, in which case a pair of tongues may extend into said aperture into a juxtaposed relationship on a transverse axis. A third tongue may be provided pointed toward and co-axially aligned with said narrow opening.

nited' States Patent .[1

Paxton PLASTIC CLIP FOR CLOSING FLEXIBLE PLASTIC BAG [76] Inventor:Floyd G, Paxton, PO. Box 2098,

' Yakima, Wash. 98902 [22] Filed: Nov. 30, 1972 v [21] Appl. No.:310,705

Related U.S.-App1ication Data 9 [63] Continuation of Ser. No. 131,226,April 5, 1971, v

abandoned.

521 U.S.C1. .24/30.5s [51] Int. Cl ..B65d 77/10 [58] Field ofSearch..... 24/305 S, 255 BS,'D1G. 28, 24/D1G. 29; 150/3; 229/62 [56] 1References Cited 932,578 12/1947 France ..24/255 BS I11; 3,822,441 1 J l-9, 1974 'Primary ExdminerDona1d A. Griffin ABSTRACT A clip about 1-inch square of flat springy plastic, such i as 0.032 inch 'guagepolystyrene, having an internal bag neck confining aperture, access towhich is provided by a narrow opening in an edge of the clip dividingthe clip on opposite sides of said opening into a pair'of flexiblejaws.The opening edges flare out,- wardly to guide .the bunched bag neck intothe inner narrow part of the opening. A pointed tongue formed integralwith the clip extends into said aperture to engage the bag neck andresist slippage of said bag neck through said aperture. A'multiple ofsaid tongues may be provided, in which case a pair'of tongues may extendinto said aperture into a juxtaposed relationship onia transverse axis.A third tongue may be provided pointed toward and co-axially alignedwith said nar row opening.

4 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures REFERENCE TO OTHER APPLICATIONS Thisapplication is a continuation of Ser. No. 1 3 l ,226 filed Apr. 5, 1971,and now abandoned.

I SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Polyetheylene plastic bags are increasinglybeing closed commerciall'yby flat polystyrene bag closures of the KwikLok type, thus bringing many advantages in product quality andmerchandising'control. It is important that slippage of the bag necksthrough the closures net plastic, bags. I

be prevented and this is particularly difficult to do with It is anobject .of the present invention to provide an improved Kwik Lok typebag closure which will offer a high resistance to slipping on'a'bag neckto which it has been applied.

Itis another object to provide such a bag closure which will effectivelyresist its sliding on the neck of a plastic net bag to which it has'beenapplied.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION 'OF THE DRAWINGS DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERREDEMBODIMENT The invention is'prefer'ably embodied in a clip lO which isshown in full scale in the perspective view of FIG. 1 closing the neck11 of a net plastic bag 12. To facilitate illustration of the details ofthe invention FIGS. 2 and 3 inclusive represent enlargements of bothpreferred and modified forms of the invention by a factor of four.

The clip is preferably about 1 inch square and, as shown, is 0.875 XL094 inch in size. The clip is beveled at the corners l3, and comprisesa sheet of stiff but springy'polystyrene plastic with a thickness of0.0325 inches.

Formed in one edge of the clip is a deep V notch 14 which terminates atits apex in a narrow opening 15, the inner end of which communicateswitha bag neck confining aperture 16, upper portions of which are archedupwardly on opposite sides of the opening to divide the material of theclip into two juxtaposed downwardly pointed jaws 17.

The preferred dimensions of clip 10 are shownin 2 In order to apply theclip 10 to the neck 11 of a net plastic bag 12, the bag neck is twistedor bunched in the hand, or by a nachine, and applied forcibly to the Vnotch 14 of the clip while moving the bag neck lengthwise of its axis soas to deflect the jaws 17 out of the plane of the clip, thereby wideningthe narrow opening 15 and displacing tongues B and C out of the plane ofthe clip and away from direct opposition to each other thereby enlargingthe spaces between the jaws and between tongues B and C to admit theindividual plastic strands of the bag neck 11 through the opening 15 andinto the bag neck confining aperture 16. The application of the clip 10is completed by relaxing pressure on the clip-thereby permitting thejaws 17 and the tongues B anc C to return into the plane of the clip,trapping the bag neck 11 in the aperture 16. v

In this process of forcing the strands of the bag neck -11 into theaperturel6, a large number of individual net openings will be impaledupon the tongues/ X, B and C so that the bag neck will be anchored inplace against endwise movement relative to the clip 10, and will thus bepermanently closed with the clip positioned on the neck as shown inFIG. 1. Removal of the clip 10 in order to open the bag 12 may bereadily accomplished, however, by seizing the clip in one hand and thebag neck in the other and twisting the clip to bend the same about atransverse line, thus flexing the jaws l7 and the tongues B and'C out ofthe plane of the clip, thereby freeing the bag neck 11 so that it may bepulledfrom the clip.

A modified form of clip 25 is shown in FIG. 3 which is like clip 10excepting that the aperture 26 thereof is larger than aperture 16 ofclip 10 to adapt clip 25 for closing medium size bags.

An important factor in the tenacity with which a net bag neck 11 isgripped by one of the clips '10 or 25 is the surrounding of theaperture'and access opening of theclip with substantial blank areas ofthe clip body which firmly resist widening of the accessopening 15 orthe gap between the pointed ends of tongues B and C while the jaws l7and the tongues B and C remain in a the plane of the clip which is theirnormal position of repose and which is the condition in which the'clip10 is shown in-FIG. 1 after a-bag neck 11 has been forced into aperture16 by deflecting the jaws l7 and tongues B and C out of the plane of theclip to permit entrance of the bag neck 11 into said aperture. While therespective apertures 16 and 26 of the clips 10 and 25 are de-' signedlymade of different sizes to fit different categories of net bags becauseof variations in the bulk of ma.- terial in different bag sizes whichmust be received by a clip, the aperture andaccess opening in each ofthese clips is located exclusively in the upper half of the clip and inthe central one-third of said I claim: I 1. ,A clip for closing the neckof a'net upper half.

plastic bag, said I clip comprising: 1

FIG. 2 and will not be repeated here. The aperture 16 Tongues B and Care at the sides of aperture 16 in op- 6 posing relation with each otheralong a body of flat, rigid but springy sheet plastic-material,

having a bag neck confining aperture formedinternally therein, access towhich is provided by an opening in an edge of said body, saidopeningjdividing the body material on opposite sides thereof into a pairof inwardly pointed flexible jaws,

said aperture and access opening being co-axial lengthwise with saidbody and confined exclusively to an area at one end thereof which isabout onehalf the length of said body and about one-third the width ofsaid body, the blank lateral and end portions of said body firmlyinhibiting expansion of said jaws while reposing in the plane of saidbody, said aperture providing room to accommodate the entire bulk of asection of the neck of a net plastic bag of a given size, and beapproximately filled by said bulk, after said clip has been flexed outof said plane to enlarge the gap between the points of said jaws and toadmit said neck through said opening and then is allowed to resume itsflat condition of repose,

the outline of said aperture being shaped to provide two sharply pointedtongues each of which is formed symmetrically about a single transverseaxis which is common to said tongues and nonnal to the lengthwise axisof said body, said tongues extending inwardly in direct, co-axialtransverse opposition to each other thereby effectively biting into saidbag neck and resisting its escape from said clip,

said tongues dividing said aperture into substantially equal upper andlower portions,

the edges of said tongues being straight, diverging from the tonguepoints at angles of approximately 90 and continuing straightapproximately to the upper and lower lateral extremities of saidaperture, I

the outline of the lower portion of said aperture being shaped toprovide a third sharply pointed tongue formed symmetrically with theaxis of said entrance opening whereby said aperture has the shape of an2. A clip as recited in claim 1 wherein the portions of said apertureforming the configuration of an X comprise upper "arms" and lower legs,and wherein said aperture is attenuated lengthwise to offset said legsdownwardly from alignment with said arms, thereby substantiallydecreasing the gap between the points of said lateral tongues withoutdecreasing the area of said aperture.

3. A clip as recited in claim 1 wherein the space between the juxtaposedpoints of said side tongues is approximately four hundredths of an inch,

4. A clip for closing the neck of a net plastic bag, said clipcomprising:

a body of flat, rigid but springy sheet plastic material,

having a bag neck confining aperture formed internally therein, accessto which is provided by an opening in an edge of said body, said openingdividing the body material on opposite sides thereof into a pair ofinwardly pointed flexible jaws,

said aperture and access opening being co-axial lengthwise with saidbody and confined exclusively to an area at one end thereof which isabout onehalf the length of said body and about one-third the width ofsaid body, the blank lateral and end portions of said body firmlyinhibiting expansion of said aperture providing room to accommodate theentire bulk of a section of the neck of a net plastic I bag of a givensize, and be approximately filled by said bulk, after said clip has beenflexed out of said plane to enlarge the gap between the points of saidjaws and to admit said neck through said opening and then is allowed toresume its flat condition of repose,

theoutline of said aperture being shaped to provide two sharply pointedtongues each of which is formed symmetrically about a single transverseaxis of said body, said tongues extending inwardly in direct, co-axialtransverse opposition to each other thereby effectively biting into saidbag neck and resisting its escape from said clip,

the outline of the lower portion of said aperture being shaped toprovide a third sharply pointed tongue formed symmetrically with theaxis of said entrance opening whereby said aperture has the shape of anX.

1. A clip for closing the neck of a net plastic bag, said clipcomprising: a body of flat, rigid but springy sheet plastic material,having a bag neck confining aperture formed internally therein, accessto which is provided by an opening in an edge of said body, said openingdividing the body material on opposite sides thereof into a pair ofinwardly pointed flexible jaws, said aperture and access opening beingco-axial lengthwise with said body and confined exclusively to an areaat one end thereof which is about one-half the length of said body andabout one-third the width of said body, the blank lateral and endportions of said body firmly inhibiting expansion of said jaws whilereposing in the plane of said body, said aperture providing room toaccommodate the entire bulk of a section of the neck of a net plAsticbag of a given size, and be approximately filled by said bulk, aftersaid clip has been flexed out of said plane to enlarge the gap betweenthe points of said jaws and to admit said neck through said opening andthen is allowed to resume its flat condition of repose, the outline ofsaid aperture being shaped to provide two sharply pointed tongues eachof which is formed symmetrically about a single transverse axis which iscommon to said tongues and normal to the lengthwise axis of said body,said tongues extending inwardly in direct, co-axial transverseopposition to each other thereby effectively biting into said bag neckand resisting its escape from said clip, said tongues dividing saidaperture into substantially equal upper and lower portions, the edges ofsaid tongues being straight, diverging from the tongue points at anglesof approximately 90* and continuing straight approximately to the upperand lower lateral extremities of said aperture, the outline of the lowerportion of said aperture being shaped to provide a third sharply pointedtongue formed symmetrically with the axis of said entrance openingwhereby said aperture has the shape of an X.
 2. A clip as recited inclaim 1 wherein the portions of said aperture forming the configurationof an X comprise upper ''''arms'''' and lower ''''legs'''', and whereinsaid aperture is attenuated lengthwise to offset said legs downwardlyfrom alignment with said arms, thereby substantially decreasing the gapbetween the points of said lateral tongues without decreasing the areaof said aperture.
 3. A clip as recited in claim 1 wherein the spacebetween the juxtaposed points of said side tongues is approximately fourhundredths of an inch.
 4. A clip for closing the neck of a net plasticbag, said clip comprising: a body of flat, rigid but springy sheetplastic material, having a bag neck confining aperture formed internallytherein, access to which is provided by an opening in an edge of saidbody, said opening dividing the body material on opposite sides thereofinto a pair of inwardly pointed flexible jaws, said aperture and accessopening being co-axial lengthwise with said body and confinedexclusively to an area at one end thereof which is about one-half thelength of said body and about one-third the width of said body, theblank lateral and end portions of said body firmly inhibiting expansionof said jaws while reposing in the plane of said body, said apertureproviding room to accommodate the entire bulk of a section of the neckof a net plastic bag of a given size, and be approximately filled bysaid bulk, after said clip has been flexed out of said plane to enlargethe gap between the points of said jaws and to admit said neck throughsaid opening and then is allowed to resume its flat condition of repose,the outline of said aperture being shaped to provide two sharply pointedtongues each of which is formed symmetrically about a single transverseaxis of said body, said tongues extending inwardly in direct, co-axialtransverse opposition to each other thereby effectively biting into saidbag neck and resisting its escape from said clip, the outline of thelower portion of said aperture being shaped to provide a third sharplypointed tongue formed symmetrically with the axis of said entranceopening whereby said aperture has the shape of an X.